The Captain and the Black Widow
by Sargerogue
Summary: Prequel to The Family We Gain. How did Steve and Natasha become a couple? Well, here's your answer. A very brief multi-chapter story with little peaks into why Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff are together. Rated T because I am cautious.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN AVENGERS. **

**AUTHOR'S NOTE! THIS IS A PREQUEL TO MY STORY THE FAMILY WE GAIN! JUST A WARNING!**

* * *

Stark Tower is the new home for the rest of the Avengers team. It started a few days after Loki's invasion with Bruce's arrival to the Tower. Bruce had been hesitant to accept Tony's invitation but with a little pushing from Pepper, Bruce soon joined them at Stark Tower. Tony had anticipated he'd be having houseguests and had since begun redesigning some of the structure to fit that need. Two weeks later, Thor arrived from Asgard. SHIELD, not wanting to house the God, asked Tony to house Thor. Tony has anticipated this as well and welcomed Thor to his home. Pepper was glad to meet another member of the Avengers and Thor was amused to find the lady behind the Stark. Next came along a Spider, Natasha. After a particularly stressful mission where she managed to get a concussion (how she managed that is a mystery, she has about the same durability as Steve), she had been given leave to rest for a few weeks. With nowhere to go, Pepper offered her a room at the Tower and that soon became Natasha's home. Next flew in a Hawk, quite literally, with Tony's new quinjet that he had bought from SHIELD. SHIELD had also put him on leave because of his involvement with Loki in the Invasion. He had spent the past few weeks in a SHIELD psychiatric ward, which he frequently broke out of the hell of it. The last to come was the Captain. According to Stark, he was the hardest to get to move.

The knock at Steve Rogers' door startles the man as he reads a book on the Korean Conflict **(I refuse to call it the Korean War, America never declared war officially)**. The Captain walks over to his door and looks through the peek whole. He sees Tony Stark standing outside of his meager apartment. Oh, this couldn't be good. Steve opens the door and looks Tony in the eye.

"What can I do for you, Stark?"

"Well, I was wondering if you were free for dinner. The rest of the team and I are going out to eat at that shawarma restaurant and we wanted to know if you wanted to come." Steve considers it a minute. He was planning on oven pizza for tonight. "You can even meet Pepper. Come on Cap, please?" Tony whines give his best puppy dog eyes. "Pepper really wants to meet you."

"Alright Tony. What time?"

"I have a car waiting downstairs," Tony answers. "The rest of the team and Pep are already there."

"Let me grab my jacket." Steve leaves the door open as he walks to his kitchen table for his jacket. Tony steps inside the apartment and looks around at the drab and lonely looking place. Figures SHIELD would get him one of the worst apartments around. "You have that _this needs to be demolished and rebuilt face _on that Howard used to give me," Steve states slipping on his coat and walking over.

"How can you stand this place?" Tony questions as they walk for the door.

"It's functional, Tony."

"You could move in to Stark Tower. I have a lot of spare rooms still," Tony tempts as they walk out and Steve locks his door.

"Tony I couldn't impose. Besides, you and I would try to kill each other within a week," Steve laughs.

"Steve, it's no problem. Just, keep that in mind." Steve nods as he and Tony walk down the steps of Steve's apartment building and to Tony's car. The pair climbs into the car and drive across New York to the restaurant. Steve holds the door open for Tony and the billionaire smiles at the soldier as they walk in. The rest of the team smiles as they enter the building restaurant, which was strangely empty.

"Captain, it is good to see you again. Are you well?" Thor asks shaking Steve hand.

"I am well, Thor. I didn't know you were back on Earth."

"We have repaired the Bifrost. I can travel here and home as I please," Thor answers with a big grin.

"Hey Cap," Clint chuckles from across the table as the Archer sips his drink. "I see Tony did manage to find your apartment."

"Shut it, Legalos. At least I didn't need a GPS to find this place again," Tony counters.

"Boys, play nice," a red head sitting next to Natasha warns. She stands and holds her hand out to Steve. "Captain, I'm Pepper Potts. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Likewise, Miss Potts."

"Come sit by me Steve," Natasha prompts motioning to the open seat next to her.

"Thank you, Natasha." Steve sits down next to Natasha as the waitress walks up.

"What can I get everyone?" she asks. The group quickly orders their foods, most ordering the same as they had last time they were here, along with another round of drinks.

"So, what have you been up to Cap?" Clint inquires.

"Doing jobs for SHIELD and trying to get used to this time still," Steve answers.

"You know we could help you with that," Natasha offers. "I mean, it was an adjustment for me but for you, it's probably shell shock, right?" Steve cocks an eyebrow and looks over at Natasha.

"Not many use that term anymore, Natasha. I believe it's combat stress reaction now," Tony points out.

"I know what it is Stark. They used that term back in the War. I've seen a number of soldiers with it. Yes, Natasha, it is quite a bit like shell shock," Steve replies before taking a drink.

"Cap, we're all here for you if you need any help readjusting," Bruce insists. "Tony has helped me get used to being in New York again. And we've all helped Thor learn more about Earth. We'd be happy to help."

"I'll think about it, really. So, what have all of you been up to?" Steve inquires to the group. Pepper pipes up first.

"Driving me nearly insane," Pepper answers. "With all of them living at the Tower and rough housing all the time, it gets interesting. Not to mention every time one of Tony and Bruce's experiments goes wrong and blows up half a floor." Steve cocks an eyebrow at Pepper's statement.

"You all live at the Tower?" Steve questions.

"Yep. It started with the Doc, then Thor, then Tasha, and me," Clint answers. "It's really fun Cap. You should move in too. I'm sure Bruce and I can keep you from killing Tony." Everyone at the table laughs at the joke including Steve and Tony.

"I'm content at my apartment."

"Then at least let me redecorate the place," Tony pleads. "Or give you a bigger TV. SOMETHING!"

"You'll lose the argument," Pepper says as Steve opens his mouth to tell Tony no. "I'll hold him back as long as I can, but that might only be a week."

"Thank you Pepper." Tony's phone goes off and he answers it.

"This is Tony Stark, who is this?" Tony says with a cocky smile. "Well hello Fury! Yes, we're all together. Seriously? Fine." Tony hangs up and looks at the waitress. "We'll need those to go. We got a mission."

"Where?" Natasha inquires.

"I don't know, he didn't tell me." Steve shakes his head. The mission turns out to be next to nothing. Essentially, it was guarding a few of the high profile targets while they go from the Middle East to the US. Unfortunately, nothing is easy with the Avengers.

"STEVE!" Natasha screams as she runs from her SUV to the area where Steve's SUV had previously been before it was blown sky high. "STEVE!"

"Natasha!" Natasha runs toward the voice and finds Steve and the target sprawled out on the ground next to a building. Steve groans as he gets up. Natasha quickly pats out the fire on his suit as Tony flies in and takes the target to the next SUV.

"How bad is it?" Natasha asks.

"Doesn't hurt that much," Steve answers.

"Steve, you have burns, extensive burns!" Natasha counters as she sees the burned skin under the suit.

"Just help me up, Tasha." Natasha puts Cap's shield on her back before helping the soldier to his feet. Clint pulls up in a SUV and Natasha helps Cap inside. She climbs in on the other side and Clint takes off to catch up with the rest of the convoy. Natasha pulls a first aid kit from the back of the SUV and starts to treat the wounds.

"Steve, you were shot," Natasha whispers as she sees the blood trickling from a hole inside of the burn zone.

"Oh, didn't feel it," Steve mutters. Natasha shakes her head and makes a compress.

"Do you feel light headed?"

"No."

"All right, we're at the air base," Clint says. The rest of the team gets the targets on their plane and Tony follows them until they're far away from the base. Bruce treats Steve on the flight back to the helicarrier. The doctor removes the bullet and patches of Steve until they get back to the helicarrier and they patch him up even better.

"I'll be fine, I don't need anyone to monitor my condition," Steve snaps as he tries to leave the infirmary.

"Captain Rogers, you have been burned and shot," the doctor protests.

"And I'll heal completely within a few days. I am fine!" Steve shouts.

"I'll watch him," Natasha's voice says from the doorway. The Black Widow is leaning in the doorway in jeans, a red shirt, and a black leather jacket. She loves that combination. "I'll call if anything happens, Doctor. Come on Steve, I'm driving." Steve scowls her for a moment but follows the Widow out of the room.

"You are not staying at my apartment," Steve says sternly.

"It'll be two nights at the max, Captain, I'm sure you can tolerate sharing a space with a woman for that long," Natasha mutters. "We'll get there about midnight."

"Like I'll be sleeping tonight," Steve scoffs.

"Medication?"

"Doesn't work."

"They have the powerful stuff for those with serums, Cap. All you have to do is ask for some," Natasha points out. Steve shakes his head and follows Natasha to the transport that would take them to the ground base. Steve can tell he's tired because of how crabby he's getting. He supposes that's because he's been up for over two days straight without sleep. Natasha notes the behavioral difference in Steve and is slightly worried. What would cause the Captain to act so differently? Especially to a woman? Natasha's concerns start to smother all professionalism in her.

Natasha drives to the apartment building silently with Steve staring out the window. Natasha presses a button on the radio and suddenly the sound of forties music fills the air. Natasha starts humming along to the music with a soft smile on her lips. Steve looks over at her with curiosity. Why would someone not from his time like that type of music? It just didn't make any sense to the Captain at all. Natasha pulls into the parking spot next to Steve's motorcycle and grabs her bag from the back seat. The pair walks up the stairs to his apartment and Steve unlocks the door silently. Natasha nods to him as he lets her in first and he follows. The Captain tosses his keys in a bowl next to the front door after he locks all three locks on his door and activates the alarm system.

"I'm surprised you have an alarm system," Natasha comments.

"This is a SHIELD building for the most part. They come standard," Steve answers. He strips off his jacket and places it on his chair at the kitchen table. "You can use my bed. I'll sleep on the couch."

"No, you sleep in your bed. I'm used to couches. I spent enough of my vacations on them," Natasha counters. "Go sleep Steve. I'll be fine."

"All right. Let me know if you want to use the bed. Night Natasha."

"Night Steve. Sleep well." Steve nods and goes into his bedroom. He falls onto his bed after taking off his work clothes. He groans as he agitates his burn but passes out. Natasha uses Steve's bathroom to change into some lounge clothes before checking on the soldier. No one had ordered her to watch over him but she knew that the doctors would want him over night. However, the doctors knew not to mess with Natasha Romanoff too. In all honesty, when Steve's SUV had blown up, Natasha's heart nearly gave out in fear. She couldn't imagine Steve gone. Natasha spends the night on the couch worrying about Steve but drifting off to sleep.

A shout pierces the darkness of Natasha's dreams. She notes the time as four o'clock as she rolls out off the couch and dashes into Steve's room. The soldier is sweating badly while tossing and turning on the bed. Natasha realizes that Steve was sleeping. She sees blood on his bandages since he's not wearing a shirt. She hurries to his side and sits down on his hips. She uses her body to pin Steve down.

"Steve! Steve, wake up! It's just a dream! Steve, wake up!" Steve wakes with a start, his chest rising sharply as he gains consciousness. His eyes widen as he sees Natasha as she climbs off him. He rolls to the side and chokes out a sob. Natasha sits on the edge of the bed and sets a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Steve, talk to me here," Natasha coaxes. Steve looks up at her hesitantly. She can see the tears brimming in the corners of his eyes. She didn't know that Captain America could cry. "Steve, what was the dream about?"

"The war, I lost Bucky." Natasha's heart pangs painfully. She wishes she could tell him that she knew Bucky as well, but by the name Winter Soldier. "Sorry I woke you."

"Don't be. Steve, have you ever been tested for some of the disorders that come from being a soldier?" Natasha inquires.

"No."

"Maybe you should have Bruce do an evaluation and then if he thinks you should seek some help, seek some help."

"Tasha, no."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not that weak," Steve snaps back. "I don't need to be told I have some disorder."

"Tony has PTSD," Natasha says quickly before she can realize what she's saying. "He talks to Pepper about it. You could talk to me or someone on the team about it."

"Tony has PTSD?" Steve questions sitting up.

"Yes. Don't you know how he got the arc in his chest?"

"He has shrapnel around his heart," Steve answers.

"Steve, he spent three months in the hands of terrorists. They water boarded him. That arc reactor, it used to be just an electromagnet connected to a car battery. He made the first arc reactor in a cave. He still has nightmares about it," Natasha tells him. "I have nightmares about the wars. Clint, his nightmares are about Loki and his past. Thor and Bruce have them too." Steve looks at Natasha.

"Wars? Plural?" Steve questions.

"I'm older than I look, Cap," Natasha says with a smirk. "Hell, you, Logan, and my guardian Ivan rescued me back in the War." Steve thinks back trying to recall the occasion. He looks back up at her with realization. "I'm almost as old as you."

"Wow. How are you?" He motions up at down.

"Red Room Serum, it was variant of your serum. I'm called the Black Widow because I'm the only one that survived," Natasha explains. "I know now how the memories hurt, Steve. I really do." Steve crosses his legs and Natasha moves so she's sitting criss-cross on the bed as well. She puts a hand on his hand and looks him in the eyes. "Tell me, please."

"Bucky was only friend before I became Captain America. We grew up together. During the war, we fought together. There was a mission to stop a train and get a target off it. There was a battle on the train. The side of the car was blown open and Bucky was holding onto it as best as he could. I tried to reach him, I really did, but he fell into an icy river. I lost my best friend. I didn't even have a body to bury," Steve whispers. "I have nightmares about it sometimes. I lost everyone from my life back them," Steve murmurs softly. Natasha places a hand on Steve's shoulder comfortingly. "Well, Peggy is still alive, but I don't know if I could ever see her again."

"Well, we're here for you now," Natasha insists as she squeezes his shoulder. "I still have nightmares about when I lost my mother. The Nazis set fire to the building we lived in. She threw me out the window to a soldier below, Ivan. I can still hear her screams." Now it's Steve's turn to comfort her. He puts his hand on her shoulder and gives her a soft squeeze.

"You're one of the bravest and toughest women I know," Steve tells her.

"Thanks Steve. Try to get some sleep," Natasha insists.

"Natasha, I know this is going to sound ridiculous, but would you mind staying in here?" Steve asks.

"Not at all, Captain. I'll be here to help chase away the nightmares. But first, let me change that bandage," Natasha says pointing the red dyed white cloth. Steve nods and lies down since the bandage is only on the front half of his torso. He falls asleep at some point as Natasha changes the bandages. Natasha smiles and pulls the comforter up over the soldier. She grabs the blanket from the couch and comes back into the room. She lies on top of the comforter and curls up in the blanket. An hour later when Natasha's nightmare wakes up Steve, he's right there to comfort his comrade.


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN AVENGERS. **

**AUTHOR'S NOTE! THIS IS A PREQUEL TO MY STORY THE FAMILY WE GAIN! JUST A WARNING!**

* * *

After that night of comforting each other, they'd talk whenever the other needed too. After one particularly stressful mission, Natasha waited for Steve to call needing to talk, but the call never comes. Natasha has Tony trace Steve's cell phone and finds out he's at a pub, which is one place no one had ever Steve go. She takes off in her vehicle to check on Steve. When she pulls up, she figures out why he had chosen this pub. It was a popular one for war veterans of all ages. A place you could come to and talk about the war without fear of being ridiculed. She had been in here once before looking for Fury. She enters the pub and the bartender looks at her in surprise.

"Have you seen a man mid twenties, blond hair, blue eyes, about 6'2" or so? Probably came in really down and keeps ordering rounds with no sign of being affected by alcohol?" Natasha asks.

"Him?" the bartender asks pointing to Steve who is sitting in a booth in the back listening to the female singer in forties dress singing on the stage.

"Yes him. Thank you."

"While you're going over there, give him this." The bartender hands her another beer and she walks over to Steve. She sets it down in front of the soldier and he looks up at her.

"Natasha? What are you doing here?" Steve asks. She sits down across from him.

"I got worried," Natasha answers. "You took off. You normally ask to talk after missions like that. What's wrong Steve?"

"Just needed to be alone for a while, Tasha. I'll be fine, why don't you go out with Clint or something?" Natasha looks at Steve sharply.

"Go out with Clint?"

"Yeah, you two are a couple aren't you?" Steve questions. Natasha laughs in his face. "Tasha?"

"Clint and I are like siblings. Sure, in the beginning we thought it could go that way but not anymore! Clint's head-over-heels in love with Bobbi Morse from SHIELD, he's just too stubborn to make a move first," Natasha laughs. "Clint saved my life Cap, we're close friends."

"Oh. Wow, I feel stupid now," Steve mutters hiding his face by putting it on the table.

"Steve, don't be. A lot of people think we are," Natasha tells him. "Let me take you home. You look a little beat."

"All right. But can I finish my beer?" he asks motioning to the untouched drink.

"How many have you had?" Natasha inquires. Steve counts in his head for a moment.

"Uh, over six, I lost count," Steve admits. Natasha shakes her head and looks toward the singer. Once Steve is done, he pays his tab and leaves the pub with her.

"How aren't you drunk?" the bartender questions.

"Fast metabolism," Steve answers not missing a beat. Natasha chuckles and leads Steve to the door. He climbs into her vehicle and she drives him home. She takes him up to the apartment and turns to leave.

"Tasha," Steve calls as she goes to leave. Natasha turns back and looks at him, she's already has one foot on the staircase. "Would you mind staying tonight? I have a feeling it's going to be a bad night."

"I don't have any clothes," Natasha points out.

"You can borrow some of mine if you'd like. Please," Steve says with a hint of pleading in his voice. Natasha nods and walks back over to Steve's apartment door. "Thank you, Natasha."

"No problem Steve." They enter the apartment and take their coats off. Natasha sorts through Steve's sweat pants to find a pair to wear and an overly large on her button up flannel shirt. Steve comes out of the bathroom and Natasha twirls around in the clothes. "Hope you don't mind."

"No problem. You want to watch a movie?"

"Sure, what do you have?" Natasha inquires.

"Uh, I'm not sure. Tony and Clint gave them to me." Natasha laughs and walks to his TV. She sorts through the movies and settles for one that makes her smile. She puts it in as Steve comes with a giant bowl of popcorn.

"Popcorn," Steve says holding it up as she ducks under his arm toward the couch. "So, what are we watching?"

"You'll see." Steve sets the popcorn on his coffee table and sits down on the couch. Natasha props his legs up on the couch and sits on top of them.

"Tasha?"

"Oh come on Cap, you need to get used to being around girls. Besides, we have slept in the same bed," Natasha points out. Cap rolls his eyes and reclines on the couch. Natasha lies back on top of him, her head settling on his shoulder as he brings the bowl of popcorn up to them. She presses play and the movie comes alive.

"The Wizard of Oz," Steve says amazed. "I didn't know I had it."

"I thought it would be nice," Natasha says with a smile. Steve smiles softly as he drapes one arm around Natasha's waist. The red head pulls Steve's throw blanket down and wraps them up in it.

"Thank you for being here, Natasha," Steve says with a soft smile.

"My pleasure." She snuggles into his arms and they devour the popcorn. By the time the movie ends, the pair is fast asleep on the couch with Natasha lying on her stomach on top of Steve. When they wake up the next morning, they stay like that for a good half hour, just enjoying each other's company.


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN AVENGERS. **

**AUTHOR'S NOTE! THIS IS A PREQUEL TO MY STORY THE FAMILY WE GAIN! JUST A WARNING!**

* * *

Three weeks later.

"Tasha and I will go in the tunnels after the guy," Steve shouts as he and Tasha run toward the tunnels.

"We'll get the rest of them," Tony calls back. Steve and Tasha run after their main target, a warlord, who had escaped through the tunnels. The dust falling from above informs the pair that the war between the US military and the warlord's men was still going on.

"If they keep firing those explosives, this place might collapse," Natasha says as they run.

"I know." They catch up to their target and Natasha shoots the man when he tries to shoot them. Unfortunately, they didn't see the dead man's switch in his hand until he dropped to the ground. They run quickly the way they had come but it was useless when they spotted where the charges were. Steve busts in a door to a service room and hurries Natasha in. A slab of rock comes down and slams in to the Captain's shoulder causing him to drop to the ground halfway into the service room. Natasha realizes she won't be able to free him until the explosion is done so she takes his shield and throws herself on top of him to protect him. Once everything had settled, Natasha gets up and puts Steve's shield down.

"Steve? Steve?" Natasha cries worriedly. She muscles the slab of rock off his back followed by the slab on his feet. She flips him over as the rubble shifts above them. She pushes him toward the service room and slides in after him. She slams the door closed at the rocks settle in front of the door. She checks Steve's back and legs for damage. By the feel of his ribs and the groans she gets, his ribs are cracked at the very least. She eases him onto his back before propping him up against the wall, causing the soldier to groan. Natasha digs through the boxes and finds some sheets. She tears one into different strips before folding one in half. She manages to get Steve's upper uniform off and wraps the folded sheet around his torso. She uses the strips to bind his ribs before she wraps another folded sheet around him and cuts the ends so she could tie the sheet snuggly around the soldier. She looks up at his face to see blood. She finds a laceration just below his hairline and quickly uses a strip of the sheet to make a bandage. She lays two sheets down and puts his shield at the head of the sheet. She eases Steve around and lays him down on the sheets with his head resting on the curving edge of his shield. She puts a hand on his face.

"Steve, Steve can you hear me?" She gets no response. She tries her radio but gets no response. She examines herself and finds she has a bleeding leg. She quickly binds the leg with another destroyed sheet. She searches the room for anything useful but doesn't find anything. Natasha looks for the air vent and finds it quite small, small enough she wouldn't be able to fit through it. A hissing sound catches her attention. She walks to the rear of the supply room to see a water pipe there with a pressure monitor. The pressure was rising and the hiss was a small hole in the pipe. If the pipe ruptured, they were screwed. She uses mores stripes of the cloth to slow the leaking. She notices that the pressure lowers, that means that whatever was causing the rise was gone hopefully that was good thing for them. She walks back over to Steve and pulls the rest of the sheets from the box. She lies down next to Steve and wraps them both in the sheets. She glances at her watch, 5:30 in the morning.

A while later, a groan and Steve's chest rising higher alerts her to the fact that he's waking up. She sits up a bit and checks her watch to find it had been a half hour. Steve's eyes flutter open and Natasha stares at his face.

"Hey, you with me?" Natasha questions.

"Tasha, what happened?" Steve asks.

"You got floored by rocks," she answers. "No radio communication and we're trapped in a storage room that is slowly flooding," Natasha continues. She points to the pipe and Steve has to squint to focus on it. "How do you feel Steve?"

"My head is throbbing, as are my ribs."

"I've bound them the best I can. I think if I move all the shelving units to the far wall, I might be able to get us a platform for when the water starts getting higher," Natasha states.

"You think we'll be here that long?"

"It's possible."

"Help me up and I'll give you a hand," Steve says.

"You're hurt."

"Then you should have done it while I was out, Tasha." Steve sits up with Natasha's help and they get to their feet. He notices how his top half of his uniform is tied around his waist and he's covered in sheets. Steve counts the number of storage racks. Each one had six levels if you count the ground one. These ones were solid steel frames with a metal slab sitting in slots on the racks by the looks of them, so they'd be able to hold Steve and Natasha's waits. There were seven storage racks.

"All right, so, what one to move first?" Natasha ponders.

"Well, if we remove some of the slabs on five of them, we'll be able to climb up to the top level easier," Steve comments. "It would also make them lighter." He goes to the farthest one and starts removing sheets of metal. "Take one less from the next one," Steve says motioning to the one next to him. Natasha nods and starts to take the sheets off. Once the five frames are lighter, they move to the heavier ones. Working together, they move the frames to the corner and bind them together with some bungee cords Natasha had found earlier. After they finish moving the other frames, the water level covers a centimeter of the floor; thankfully, Natasha had rescued their blankets beforehand. Steve puts his shield on the top rack of the one closest to the wall as well as the blankets.

"All right, you're going to have to help me some," Steve says with a grunt. Natasha nods and helps him climb up the storage racks. He flips onto the last one and moves on his back across to the wall. He puts the blankets down across the two slabs and Natasha climbs onto the slab next to him. He lies down with his head resting on his shield again. Natasha pulls blankets over them and snuggles in next to him.

"Do you think they'll find us?" Natasha asks.

"Of course they will," Steve reassures her. He motions for her to lay closer to him. She lies on her stomach, her head on his shoulder. The injured ribs were on the other side so she leans slightly on his torso. "Tasha, would you like to go out to dinner with me next Friday?" Steve inquires.

"Are you asking me on a date?" Natasha questions.

"Yes I am. There's this nice little Italian restaurant down the street from my apartment. I would like to take you to it," Steve says. "Just you and me."

"That sounds wonderful Steve. I'd love to," Natasha says with a smile. "This will be our first official date, but our fifth one if you count all those unofficial dinners and movie nights."

"That is true," Steve says with a smile. "You don't know how much you mean to me, Natasha, you really don't." Natasha checks her watch. "What is it?"

"We've been here two hours," Natasha murmurs.

"They'll find us, Tasha." Natasha looks over the edge to see the water is at the bottom of the first section of the storage racks. Natasha wraps an arm around Steve, holding him tighter. They talk about the war for a while, about missions she had gone on, and then about other things trying to keep their minds off everything. Natasha looks at Steve as the water reaches their level. It had been seven hours since Natasha had started keeping track of time. She moves in closer to Steve as the water touches her skin. The air vent was directly over them, they would drown within the hour.

"Tasha, I never told you this, but I love you," Steve says looking at his companion. "All this time we've been spending together, it's been amazing. I love you, Tasha."

"I love you Steve." Natasha kisses Steve passionately. Steve shifts Natasha up and on top of him. He flips the shield over and loops his arms through the shoulder straps to keep them toward the ceiling. Steve wraps his arms tightly around Natasha. The room starts shaking at the water reaches Steve's ear. There's a rush of water from the vent above them. Steve kisses Natasha and holds her closer. The pair start to black out. As Steve's consciousness fails him, the room grows brighter.

Unknown to them, the Avengers had been digging the whole time to the room. All other access to the room had been cut off by the explosion. Thor strikes through the last remaining rock next to the vent to find the Captain and the Widow there. He grabs them both and hands them up to Iron Man. Tony wraps his arms around the couple, and flies to the surface where Banner is waiting.

"Tasha!" Clint shouts as Tony lands. Clint and Bruce help lay Steve and Natasha down on to the ground as Thor flies up to join them. Tony removes Steve's arms from Natasha and lays the Captain down on his back next to her. A medic comes over with a CPR mask. Clint starts chest compressions on Natasha and breathes into her mouth. The medic uses the CPR mask on Steve while Banner pumps the Captain's chest.

"Damn it, wake up," Tony growls with his mask up. JARVIS was giving him the information by ear. Natasha's chest lurches and she turns on her side coughing up the water in her lungs quickly. She turns to Steve to find him unresponsive. She pushes the medic out of the way.

"Steve, wake up! We have a date damn it!" Natasha shouts before forcing air into his lungs. Steve's chest heaves and Natasha turns him over so he can cough up all the water. Steve looks up at Natasha with a soft smile.

"I told you they'd find us," Steve laughs rocking back to settle on his knees. "You didn't believe me."

"I did too!" Natasha says indignantly.

"We still on for that date?"

"Of course. Bruce, some of Steve's ribs are fractured," Natasha tells the Doctor.

"Come on Steve, let's get you and Natasha to the plane," Tony says helping the soldier to his feet as Clint helps Natasha up. Steve wraps an arm around Natasha's waist and brings her in close. He kisses her in front of the Avengers much to the shock of everyone.

"We never got to finish that kiss," he chuckles.

"What happened down there?" Clint inquires.

"Clint, they've been unofficially dating since the pub incident," Tony says in a manner that says _you-didn't-know?-it-was-obvious!_. "You're way out of the loop."

"Apparently." The group is too busy to notice that the soldier and spy are currently walking back to the jet without them. Steve moves in with Natasha at the Tower two weeks later.


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN AVENGERS. **

**AUTHOR'S NOTE! THIS IS A PREQUEL TO MY STORY THE FAMILY WE GAIN! JUST A WARNING!**

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Steve and Natasha's relationship stepped to another level when they started to talk about marrying and kids. Then they had found her, the teenager that looked so much like Steve. Steve and Natasha talk about it as they prepare to head back to New York.

"Fury, come to say goodbye?" Tony asks Nick walks up the ramp to them.

"Yes I am. The prisoners are being returned to their homes are sent to SHIELD bases where they can integrate into society again," Fury says.

"What about Sarah?" Bruce inquires looking up from where he had been staring at the ground.

"Who?"

"Sarah, the one that was clinging to me," Steve clarifies.

"We'll be rehabilitating her and helping her adjust to being free. We have some questions for her as well but that will come after we get her speech up. After that, well, I suppose she'll be put in the care of a SHIELD agent," Fury tells them. "So Sarah is her name?"

"Steve named her," Natasha informs Fury. "She wanted a name."

"Well, we'll take good care of Sarah. Have a safe trip."

"Sir," Steve says as Fury is about to leave, "I'd be interested in taking Sarah in when she's done with rehabilitation, if it's all right with Tony." Steve looks at Tony who nods.

"It would be interesting to have a kid around the Tower. I'll have a room waiting for her," Tony says. Nick nods and walks out of the jet. "Congrats Cap, I think you just volunteered yourself for being a dad. It's a girl." Steve smirks as he thinks about it. He doesn't look all that much older than her but he'd like to hear her call him Dad. Natasha kisses Steve's cheek.

"She can be ours," Natasha whispers in his ear. "She'll be our daughter if we get her. You know I can't have kids." Steve kisses Natasha and she smiles at him. It wasn't completely true that she couldn't have kids; she just needed drugs to be able to. The two hope that they get that little girl.

When they get back to New York, they talk about designing their hopefully soon to be adopted daughter. Natasha could see the way Steve brightened up when he thought about being a family man. Steve sees the way that Natasha smiles at the thought of having someone to call a daughter.

"Steve, I'd like to try to have a baby too. So Sarah could have a sibling," Natasha says looking at Steve one late night.

"Anything you want Tasha. We're going to have a family," Steve says with a smile. Natasha smiles and climbs on top of her boyfriend. "We're going to be parents, Tasha. Can you believe that?"

"It's mind blowing," Natasha says with a smile.

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**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I WROTE THIS ALL IN ONE DAY, IT IS BARELY REVISED, AND IT IS DONE!**


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